The Greatest Gift
by the Divine Nataku
Summary: Oneshot VxM fluff What do you get the Humanoid Typhoon on his birthday? Perhaps Meryl knows the answer... rxr!


Disclaimer - Trigun does not belong to me; it belongs to the honorable Nightow-sama who rented it to me for the day.

December 7th, 2004

"**The Greatest Gift**"

Vash's birthday was just a few hours away. It had been a few drinks and Nicholas D. Wolfwood's relentless persistence that they were able to glean this information. It wasn't often that the outlaw admitted such personal information about himself – Meryl was surprised to find that he even _had_ a birthday – and it was quickly decided that a party would be thrown in his honor.

He hadn't objected, and neither had Meryl – seeing that it was his birthday – she was even willing not to object to the barhopping that was sure to commence… to a certain extent.

Needless to say, Vash had seemed surprised and very pleased to hear this.

"_Does that mean I can drink and flirt with all the women I want without you making a big fuss about it?_" he asked her, grinning that annoying grin of his.

She was almost sure her face had turned purple then, but she was proud of herself for being able to refrain from the use of physical violence. It was his birthday after all – could she bring herself to ask how old he was? not that is mattered with the way he acted – who was she to tell him what he could and couldn't do? So instead of commenting on his disparaging habits, as she was wont to do, she'd bitingly told him he could do whatever he felt like so long as he behaved himself.

Of course he'd just laughed that insane laugh of his and she knew it was a lost cause.

"What a twit," Nimble hands flew across the typewriter as Meryl worked on her latest report for the Bernardelli Insurance Society. Her day had already started out poorly, and with this upcoming slosh-fest, it didn't look as though it were going to get any better. "A complete clod… a, a…"

"Tongari?" The brunette's head shot towards the door to see the lanky, black-clad priest leaning against the doorframe.

"Don't you know how to knock?" she asked, shooting daggers at him.

Wolfwood only took a drag of his cigarette, shrugging noncommittally. "I doubt you would've heard me, Short Girl," he replied with his usual smirk. "What with the storm clouds you've got brewing in here."

Questionable though his morals were, the man was still a priest. Meryl found herself glancing away, biting the inside of her cheek as a few obscenities ran through her head. The acrid scent of smoke reached her nose and she turned back towards the priest distastefully.

"You know, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't smoke in here."

Wolfwood grinned. "You know, I'm sure you would." He would have laughed out loud at the look he received in response, but he didn't want to run the risk of dropping his cigarette. "The Big Girl just asked me to stop by and let you know that we were heading over to the saloon down the street."

Of course, by 'we' he meant Milly, Vash, and himself. Not that they had invited her, of course; they knew she'd turn them down. Meryl found herself sighing heavily; she really didn't feel like having to drag Milly and an inebriated gunman out of some bar at wee hours in the morning, and certainly not two nights in a row.

"Can't you wait until tomorrow night?" she asked him. "You're going to be celebrating his birthday then, aren't you?"

Again, the shady priest just shrugged. "Seems like Tongari was planning on hopping the next sand-steamer out of town tomorrow afternoon," She hadn't been aware of that. He paused. "What, you don't want to join us?"

The look on her face clearly said no. "Aw, c'mon, Short Girl… don't be like that… it's a special occasion – at least tell me you got him a gift," The expression of disdain slipped off of her face leaving it totally blank. "Didn't you?"

The part of Meryl that seemed to enjoy spouting the first thing that came to mind, jumped forward ignoring all protests given by her more logical self. "Of course I did! What kind of person do you think I am?"

Wolfwood looked momentarily surprised before allowing his customary rakish grin to assume its position on his face. "You did, did you?" He chuckled. "Well now, I'll be sure to tell Tongari you were thinking of him on his special day. Do you want me to give it to him, or will you be delivering it personally?"

She blinked at him, and then catching the hidden innuendo behind his statement she flushed angrily. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Priest!"

"Whoa, whoa, Short Girl," Could his grin get any wider? "It was just a simple question."

Meryl let out a grunt as she rose out of her seat, pointing towards the door. "Out, out, out… I will give it to him myself!"

He chuckled, turning to exit the room, stopping momentarily to stub out his cigarette on the doorframe before stuffing it back into his coat pocket. "Suit yourself, Shorty." He gave her another grin. "I'm sure he'll be thrilled."

She shoved the door shut in his face.

Yes, her day was gradually getting worse.

'_Shit_…'

The moment the priest was out of sight, Meryl had snuck out of her hotel room set on finding a gift for Vash. Luckily their most recent stop had been in a fairly populated town, so Meryl was certain the local shops would have a variety of items for her to choose from. Not that it really mattered that much though. The man seemed to have very simple tastes, so how hard finding a gift for him be?

'_Shit, shit, shit, shiiiiit_...!'

Meryl had been browsing for little over an hour, walking from shop to shop, vending cart to vending cart all the while trying to determine what kind of gift would be suitable for Vash. She'd tried to determine what kinds of things he might have liked to receive as a gift when she suddenly came to a horrifying realization…

She didn't know anything about the man. Surely she'd spent enough time around him to know that he wasn't the same infamous Humanoid Typhoon everyone made him out to be, but when it came to anything more than that… nothing.

Nada. Zip. Zilch. It's almost as if he were a complete stranger.

Meryl bit her lip thoughtfully. It wasn't as if she hadn't had numerous opportunities to get to know him – the fact of the matter was it was customary for her to keep herself at arms' length with people. It had taken Milly quite some time to finally worm her way under her defenses, Wolfwood wasn't really trying but still he managed to get a rise out of her occasionally (though more often than not she only put up with him because Milly seemed to enjoy his company), but what about Vash?

He was their assignment; it wasn't proper for them to be friendly with one another… was it?

Then why was she out in the middle of the street, stressing over what to get him as a present? She found herself sighing slightly. The fact of the matter was that she wanted to get to know him better, she wanted to be seen as someone he could pal around with like Wolfwood and Milly – not just as the uptight 'Insurance Girl'.

She wanted Vash to like her.

Meryl sighed again, closing her eyes. '_God, I'm a pathetic…_' Why was she even thinking about things like this? Not that he'd ever view her any differently than he did now – she couldn't even find him a decent gift for crying out—

Her negative thoughts were quickly silenced when one last shop came up into her field of vision. A small smirk made its way across her face; perhaps there was hope after all.

Meryl usually felt very out of place in bars and pubs, as she was not one to frequent them on a regular basis. Truth be told, she rarely ever drank at all except on special occasions, and if she did happen to partake of a little alcohol, she made sure to keep it down to a minimum. Granted, she was no lightweight, but she had found out early on that she did not make a very good drunk.

Shoving back memories from her college days, Meryl stepped up onto the porch leading up to the saloon where Milly and the others had reportedly housed themselves away for the evening. How anyone could enjoy drinking him or herself silly and endure the hangover that was sure to follow the next morning, Meryl didn't know. She could think of nearly a dozen other ways to occupy her time.

Like trying to find the perfect gift for a certain needle-noggin gunman?

Meryl felt her face heat up. Where the heck had that come from? It wasn't like it was a big deal or anything!

"Sempaaaaaaaaaiiiii!" Meryl had little time to react before she was enveloped in a big bear hug courtesy of one Milly Thompson.

"Hi…" she wheezed out, trying to loosen her partner's hold on her lest she accidentally cut off her oxygen-flow.

"I'm soooo glad you came!" the tall blonde gushed. "Bokushi-san had told us you might show up, but he was starting to think you wouldn't come!"

Of course, because Meryl was just an uptight Insurance Girl…

"…mentioned something about you getting a gift for Vash-san seeing since his birthday's tomorrow and all – oh, is that it?"

Meryl paused out of her own reverie to follow Milly's gaze down to the light pink box being held securely in her hands. "Um, yeah… this is it…" She felt her face warm up again. It was just a silly gift… what did she have to be so nervous about?

"Oh, wow, that was so nice of you, Sempai," Milly was gushing as she began ushering her into the establishment, oblivious to the slight resistance she was putting up. "I'm sure Vash-san will be so surprised!"

She frowned suspiciously; surprised about what? "What did you guys get him?"

Milly paused, looking thoughtful. "Oh, we didn't get him anything, actually," she replied. "Unless of course you count the fact I paid for dinner and Bokushi-san is covering the drinks."

Why that sneaky little… '_I hope they order every damn thing in the lot…_' Before long, Meryl found herself being led through the throngs of people residing in the saloon, ignoring some of the looks she was receiving from less than savory patrons, over to a small table along the window where their two male companions resided.

Meryl shot Wolfwood a look that could have peeled the wallpaper off a wall. He merely gave her a grin and went back to his drink; Vash, meanwhile, looked on blinkingly.

"Look who I found outside!" Milly beamed.

To her surprise, Vash grinned pleasantly. "We saw you coming from the window."

"I must say, Shorty," Wolfwood grinned. "It sure is a surprise to have you grace us with your presence."

"Don't tease," Milly admonished. "I think it was very nice that Sempai decided to join us – especially since it's Vash-san's soon-to-be birthday."

"Oh, I agree." Wolfwood grinned.

'_I'll bet…_' Meryl thought to herself, feeling flustered. She saw Vash turn his attention to the box held tightly in her grasp, blinking at it curiously.

"What's that you've got there, Insurance Girl?" Before he had known what was happening, she had thrust it into his open arms, muttering a quick 'Happy Birthday' before rushing towards the exit.

"What was that all about?" Wolfwood blinked.

"You were teasing her," Milly countered, giving him a disappointed look. "Shame on you, Bokushi-san."

Vash suddenly stood and rushed off after her, leaving the opened gift. "Wait up, Short Girl!"

The two remaining at the table blinked in confusion. "What was that all about?" Milly wondered in confusion. "Is something going to happen?"

"You got me, Big Girl," Wolfwood answered with a grin. He rose out of his seat, leaning towards the window. "But at least we've got ourselves a front row seat."

Milly giggled and followed his example.

"Hey, Short Girl!"

Meryl had heard his voice call out to her as she exited the crowded bar and that was the sole reason she hadn't wheeled around swinging when she felt his hand clamp around her arm.

"I'm fine…" she ground out. "The bar just really isn't my scene… just let go of me already!" She found herself letting out a squeak of surprise as she was spun around and pulled into a tight, meaningful embrace.

He lowered his head so that it was level with hers, smiling gently. "Thanks for the gift, Meryl," he replied softly. "It's the best I could have asked for."

She found herself speechless as he released her and turned back towards the bar.

'_He… hugged me…**and **he said my name!_' Meryl could feel a goofy smile making its way across her face.

Perhaps the day hadn't been a total loss after all.

"Well, that was certainly interesting," Wolfwood remarked with a smirk, taking a sip from shot glass in front of him.

Milly nodded in agreement, bringing a finger to her lips thoughtfully. "Though I wonder what brought that on?"

'_Same here_.' It had to be some gift to bring out that kind of reaction in the legendary gunman, especially toward Meryl. Curiosity getting the better of him, Wolfwood pulled the pink box towards him, peering into its contents. A wide grin spread across his face before he let out a loud laugh.

Divided by a neat little partition, contained within where six donuts and a salmon sandwich.

End

Author's Notes - Ah, here we go... some more Vash and Meryl fluff as per requested. Although, again, it didn'tcome out exactly as I had planned it (why does that always happen?) ::shrugs:: I dunno... anyways, I hope you guys enjoy it.

3 R's of Fanfiction everyone!

Happy New Year!


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